Reviewing our most popular blogs of the year

As 2021 draws to a close, it’s time to look back on the topics you found most interesting this year. Here’s the rundown of our most-read blogs in 2021.

  1. eMAR: Frequently asked questions

Billed as ‘everything you ever wanted to know about eMAR and its role within home care’ our FAQs special on all things eMAR was our most read blog of the year. That probably comes as no surprise given the much-accelerated pace of digitisation within the care industry right now.

If you missed it, catch-up now.

  1. Why is it important to value your employees?

It might seem like an obvious question, but with the growing pressures on the care sector to recruit and retain staff, demonstrating how much you value your employees commanded a top spot on your priority list this year.

Valuing your employees

  1. The key strengths of a lone worker

Lone working is a core aspect across all of our customers businesses – whether that’s cleaning or care – so it’s no surprise that this delve into some of the characteristics that make-up a successful and productive lone worker was third place in our ranking of most read blogs.

Discover the key lone worker strengths for yourself

  1. Your guide to Outstanding home care

In at number four was our popular guide to the CQC’s Key Lines of Enquiry (KLOES) and how technology (like Unique IQ’s) can be used to demonstrate outstanding levels of service. We revamped the e-book in April with new information on the Care Quality Commission’s revised approach to monitoring and inspections, as well as the latest guidance on culturally appropriate copy.

  1. In the spotlight: Why is home care employee turnover so high?

In an already struggling sector, care providers have had to contend with the impact of Brexit, COVID and now mandatory vaccination on their teams. The latest figures from Skills for Care report a 30% turnover rate for staff directly employed in adult social care – a frightening statistic.

Read more: tackling staff turnover in home care

  1. Growth in UK cleaning industry in 2020

At the start of 2021, the British Cleaning Council released new figures showing a record number of cleaners working within the UK. Employing approximately 1.63 million workers, the cleaning sector is now one of the top ten UK industries – accounting for around 5% of the UK workforce.

Read more from the British Cleaning Council’s report

  1. Public sector vs private sector on sick leave

Understandably against a backdrop of COVID, sick leave was a source of preoccupation for many of you this year. This report from the CIPD compared the level of sick days within the NHS and location authorities against those in privately held businesses. An interesting read.

Read more about absence management

  1. Adapting to a new ‘normal’: the cleaning sector in 2021

The cleaning sector was one of the industry that suddenly found its services to be in a state of heightened demand due to pandemic. We predicted a number of shifts for cleaning businesses in 2021 – from demand fluctuations, to automation, to approached to wellbeing.

Were our cleaning industry predictions right?

  1. The importance of culturally appropriate care in home care

New in for 2021 was our guide to culturally appropriate care. Released in May, this new guidance from the Care Quality Commission helps care providers ensure they are delivering care that is sensitive to people’s cultural identity or heritage and responsive to any related beliefs and conventions.

Learn more about culturally appropriate care

  1. Retrospective: the working from home revolution

The final feature on our most read list of 2021 was a retrospective on the working from home revolution. In 2015 we wrote about the potential growth in working from home by 2022. None of us expected a global pandemic to accelerate that process, but did we get our numbers right?

The work from home revolution